Read My Heart

From the bestselling author of ‘Elizabeth and Mary’, the remarkable love story of Dorothy Osborne and Sir William Temple, set against the turbulence and romance of 17th-century England. [Note that the family trees contained in this ebook are best viewed on a tablet.]

Sir William Temple (1628-99), handsome and intelligent, son of a staunch Parliamentarian, become a celebrated essayist and diplomat in Charles II’s time. Captivating him from their first meeting, when he was just 20, Dorothy Osborne (1627-1696) was an intellectual romantic from a family of committed Royalists. After a long and at times desperate courtship, in which Dorothy rejected numerous other suitors (including Henry Cromwell, son of the Lord Protector), they married in 1654. Their union had been fiercely opposed by both their families, but they went on to build a passionate marriage that brought personal tragedies and public triumphs and betrayals during the huge political upheavals of the age.

Their relationship was intellectually collaborative; both were gifted writers, and possessed of strikingly modern sensibilities. Seventy-seven letters written by Dorothy to William during their long clandestine courtship survive, masterpieces of wit and style, with a conversational intimacy that transports the reader to her side. Both were at the social and political centre of life: confidants of William of Orange and Mary, who were instrumental in promoting their marriage, contemporaries of Pepys, and employers of Jonathan Swift.

Drawing upon extensive research and the Temples’ own extraordinary writings, Jane Dunn brings to life their remarkable story, offering a rare perspective on one of the most turbulent periods of British history. In illuminating the personal lives, politics and passions of two endearing and independent-minded people, she brilliantly captures not only the story of a marriage, but the spirit of a dawning modern age.

Reviews

'Jane Dunn has pieced together the marvellous story of their clandestine courtship…what is wonderfully demonstrated in Dunn's account of their later lives is the sense of this being a real story, as well as a romance…their love story is beautiful and Dunn brings to life the dramatic age in which they lived.' Daily Mail

‘“Read My Heart” provides a richly detailed backdrop to Dorothy Osborne's letters, vividly recalling the boisterous bonhomie of 17th century England.’ Mail on Sunday

‘Jane Dunn is a gifted storyteller, who writes with fluency and wit…she has produced a biography that is also an excellent guide to the tumultuous seven decades through which the Temples lived and loved.’ Sunday Telegraph

'Dunn shows her skills as a solidly good historian, painting a vivid picture of a free–thinking intellectual…a double life is a tricky enterprise…but Dunn…an expert in the dynamics of couples maintains a sense of balance throughout.' Sunday Times

About the author

Jane Dunn is the biographer of the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell, and the biographer of Mary Shelley. She has written a groundbreaking biography of Antonia White and most recently, the bestselling ‘Elizabeth and Mary’. She is Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and lives in Bath.